School of Information Systems and Technology
Faculty of Informatics
ITCS938 eBusiness Technologies
Subject Outline
Autumn Session 2007
Head of School –Associate Professor Peter Hyland, Student Resource Centre, Tel: (02) 4221 3606
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Dr Jun Shen |
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Telephone Number: |
02 4221 3873 |
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Email: |
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Location: |
3.204 |
Dr Shen’s Consultation Times During Session
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Day |
Time |
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Monday |
10:30 – 12:30 |
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Tuesday |
13:30 – 15:30 |
Subject Organisation
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Session: |
Autumn Session, Wollongong Campus |
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Credit Points |
6 credit points |
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Contact hours per week: |
1 hour lecture, 1 hour tutorial, 1 hour lab |
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Lecture Times & Location: |
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Tutorial Day, Time and Location can be found at: |
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Students should check the subject’s web site regularly as important information, including details of unavoidable changes in assessment requirements will be posted from time to time. Any information posted to the web site is deemed to have been notified to all students.
The subject explores the technology being adopted by organisations and the various means of maximising business potential using Internet technology, including eBusiness (B2B, B2C, B2G etc.). The focus of the course is from the IT professional perspective, giving the student a feel for what is required in a commercial business environment. The technology aspects will cover both developing in house software, as well as selecting 'best practice' outsourced options. Comparisons are drawn between the two adoption methods, and the student is engaged by scenario role playing as part of the group assignments.
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
1. explain the technical aspects and constraints of implementing online sites
2. analyse specific eBusiness adoption models and advise on their technical requirements for implementation.
3. identify and demonstrate the most appropriate technology to deploy for specific eBusiness requirements
4. explore and review the methodologies for developing specifications/requirements for the implementation of online sites. (plus shared learning outcomes with iact304)
5. describe at an overview level the pattern-oriented approach to specifying and analysing eBusiness problems.
6. describe at an overview level how to drill down through a pattern-oriented description of an eBusiness solution in order to specify and describe what is involved in designing and implementing eBusiness processes
Lecture Topics (subject to variation)
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Week |
Topic |
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1 |
Subject introduction, e-business solutions |
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2 |
High level patterns for e-business |
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3 |
Basics of e-business technologies |
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4 |
E-business development issues |
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5 |
Multi-tier architectures for e-business |
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6 |
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7 |
Middleware for e-business |
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8 |
Servlets, portlets and JSP technology |
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9 |
Web services and business process management |
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10 |
Electronic Payment Systems |
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11 |
Emergent e-business technologies |
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12 |
Content review |
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13 |
Exam preparation |
Attendance Requirements
It is the responsibility of students to attend all lectures/tutorials/labs/seminars/practical work for subjects in which you are enrolled. It should be noted that according to Course Rule 003{Interpretation Point 2 (t)} each credit point for a single session subject has the value of about two hours per week including class attendance. Therefore, the amount of time spent on each 6 credit point subject should be at least 12 hours per week, which includes lectures/tutorials/labs etc
Students MUST attend their allocated tutorial unless they have the written permission of the subject coordinator.
The tutorials are used as a platform for students to present and review deliverable material in a presentation type scenario. Satisfactory attendance at lectures and tutorials/labs (incl. seminars on individual research topics) is an essential requirement for the successful completion of this subject. Failure to comply has serious implications for other group members, continued absence may result in a fail grade being recorded. Also, you are reminded that there will be no tutorials or lab sessions in week 1.
The main aim of the subject is to provide the students with a comprehensive and detailed introduction to e-business from a technical perspective. In order to achieve this aim, the material is presented from a number of viewpoints, including business, software solutions, architecture etc. Weekly sessions start with a lecture, introducing the student to the issue under discussion. The accompanying tutorials then provide more granular information, allowing the student groups to assimilate the information into their assignment scenario. Students will be placed into teams in the second week, and allocated roles for the tutorials. Teams will have three to four (3-4) members. All teams are formed with the agreement of the tutor and the tutor reserves the right to change team membership at any time. Once a team is formed, team members should sign up on e-Learning to smooth future group-based online submissions of assessable items. Normally in each tutorial session, every team should prepare a specific tutorial question, and selected teams will give a short report and/or presentation in response to exercise tasks. The same team will complete a group based 4000-6000 word assignment (each team will choose only 1 assignment to complete from 2 options provided) so the team work will go through the whole subject. Cooperation in teams should be maintained at a healthy level. If any concerns arise at any time, please discuss with the subject coordinator as soon as possible. Individual contributions will be assessed in team based assessable items (including tutorial exercises and assignment).
When selecting lab software, the School is not explicitly promoting solutions or products from a specific vendor. In lab sessions of this subject, IBM technology is chosen as the trial development platform because of its adoption of open practices and use of ‘best of breed’ components. The deployed IBM software (incl. WebSphere, DB2 etc.) incorporates both state-of-the-art technologies, like J2EE, and the most novel research results in areas like Web services. Students are encouraged to experience this genuine e-business development environment, with which they may also have a trial of practical implementation technologies by building up practical code if feasible. Students have the freedom to choose their own lab tasks and are expected to try as many e-business related components as possible (a brief guide on self-learning plan will be provided). Even though coding will NOT be assessed, exposure to real e-business technologies will strengthen students’ understanding of e-business development, which will eventually help students in their ICT career.
Considering that e-business technologies are developing very quickly, this subject also expects each student to exploit their lab sessions or personal study times to update his/her knowledge related to the contents delivered in lectures. Individuals are free to choose and read materials on a specific emergent e-business technological topic by researching Internet, e-library and other sources (lab session can be used for this purpose). An emergent technology in this subject refers to a technology or a set of technologies which have been developed in the recent years and have shown potential application values in e-businesses. Alternatively, students may ask tutors for suggestions. In tutorial and lab sessions from week 11, tutors will organize seminars for each student to deliver an informal oral presentation on his/her own selected topic, which should be based on a 1000 words report.
Lecture notes and tutorial questions will be uploaded to the e-Learning website (previously WebCT) weekly. Lab guides, research seminar instructions, team sign-up guides, and 2 options of assignment specifications will be uploaded to e-Learning website (previously WebCT) within the first couple of weeks. Students should check the subject's web site regularly as important information, including details of unavoidable changes in assessment requirements will be posted from time to time. Any information posted to the web site is deemed to have been notified to all students via e-Learning website.
Subject Materials
The following books are recommended but not mandatory for the subject. Students are encouraged to use the library catalogue and databases to locate additional readings (the bookshop has made orders for some discounted books which may help students’ study references and exam preparations):
E-Business Technologies, Napier et. al., Thomson Course Technology 2003, ISBN 0-619-06319-X
E-Business, Beynon-Davies, Palgrave Macmillan 2004, ISBN 1-4039-1348-X
Strategies for eBusiness, Jelassi and Enders, Prentice Hall 2005, ISBN 0-273-68840-5
E-Business: Organizational and Technical Foundations, by Papazoglou and Ribbers, Wiley 2006 ISBN 0-470-84376-4
This subject has the following assessment components.
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Assessment Items & Format |
Percentage of Final Mark |
Due Date |
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Assessable Item |
Minimum % required to pass |
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Tutorial Presentation and Participation, each group prepares and presents a topic in each week’s tutorial, 10 minutes each |
15% |
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Group task ~ Slides (each including 2 topics which have been prepared or presented in the previous weeks) submission to e-Learning website due by 12:30pm on Thursdays in weeks 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 |
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Report on Emergent Technologies, 1000 words |
10% |
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Individual Task ~ Report submission to e-Learning website due by 12:30pm on Thursday, May 10th, 2007 (week 10) |
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Seminar on Emergent Technologies, oral presentation in 10 minutes |
5% |
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Individual Task ~ Slides submission to e-Learning website due by 12:30pm on Thursday, May 10th, 2007 (week 10); seminars (oral presentations) will be conducted in tutorials/labs during weeks 11-13. |
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Assignment, 4000-6000 words, complete 1 ONLY from 2 options |
20% |
40% |
Group Task ~ Digital report submission to e-Learning website, and hardcopy submission to lecturer or tutor due by 12:30pm on Friday May 25th, 2007 (week 12) |
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Final Examination |
50% |
40% |
Examination Period |
Students are advised that 15% of assessable items (reports and seminars about your own research on emergent e-business technologies) are individual tasks:
§ The informal research topic presentation (slides and/or notes), which is delivered in due tutorial/lab sessions, should be submitted together with the 1000 word report through e-Learning. Students must retain their own copies and may be required to repost.
§ The reports, slides and/or notes must appropriately acknowledge the original contributors of the materials that you cited.
§ The assessment on seminar reports (10 marks) and presentations (5 marks) will be against criteria such as the novelty of topic (technologies emergent in the past 2-4 years and demonstrating worthiness to e-business), the clarity of presentation, the depth of discussion, the appropriate critics on advantages as well as disadvantages, the accuracy of answers, and the relatedness to this subject.
§ 35% of assessable items (contribution to tutorial exercises and assignment) are group based tasks, therefore, students should clearly identify their areas of commitment and their contribution to the tasks. This practice allows the assessor to identify the individual components in case of dispute among group members. Please contact the lecturer/tutor about problems in teamwork as early as possible to avoid further side-effect onto individual overall marks.
§ Student teams are expected to contribute to the tutorials by preparing slides as coordinated by the tutor.
§ Digital format of the responses to tutorial exercises (e.g. tutorial presentation slides) must be submitted to e-Learning fortnightly (5*3 marks). Students must retain their own copies and may be required to repost.
§ Assignment (20 marks) need to be submitted BOTH as printed material (incl. school cover sheet) and in digital form (through e-Learning). Student team members should sign to indicate the submission of the assignment and exact contribution percentage of each member. Students must retain their own copies and may be required to repost in case submissions go missing.
§ Penalties may be applied for non involvement or continued lack of attendance in tutorials/seminars.
Penalties may apply to all late work, except in case of protracted (and certified) illness with extension granted by subject coordinator. Late submissions will attract a penalty of 10% of the assessment mark per day including weekends. Work more than 7 days late will be awarded a mark of zero. Requests for extensions should be lodged as a special consideration request (on-line via SOLS) with administration prior to the due date. Documentation (e.g., medical certificates) to support special consideration requests should be lodged to administration as well. In case occasional e-Learning system failure when submitting materials, please notify tutor/lecturer immediately through email to avoid penalties for late submissions.
Scaling (School)
Final results in this subject may be scaled. The scaling method that will be used in this subject is as follows.
If E is the student exam mark (out of 50), and A is the student’s overall tutorial/report/seminar/assignments mark (out of 50), the student final mark will be determined as follows:
if E >= 40% of the maximum exam mark: then student final mark is E + A;
if 35% <= E < 40% of the maximum exam mark: then student final mark is /min/{E+A, 47};
Students must refer to the Faculty Handbook or online references which contains a range of policies on educational issues and student matters.
Please note that if this is your last session and you are granted a supplementary exam, be aware that your results will not be processed in time to meet the graduation deadline.
Plagiarism
When you submit an assessment task, you are declaring the following
1. It is your own work and you did not collaborate with or copy from others.
2. You have read and understand your responsibilities under the University of Wollongong's policy on plagiarism.
3. You have not plagiarised from published work (including the internet). Where you have used the work from others, you have referenced it in the text and provided a reference list at the end ot the assignment.
4. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
5. Students are responsible for submitting original work for assessment, without plagiarising or cheating, abiding by the University’s policies on Plagiarism as set out in the Calendar under University Policies, and in Faculty handbooks and subject guides. Plagiarism has led to the expulsion from the University.
This outline should be read in conjunction with the following documents:
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Code of Practice - Teaching and Assessment http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/codesofprac/teaching_code.html |
Key Dates |
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Code of Practice - Students http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/codesofprac/cop_students.html |
Information Literacies Introduction Program |
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Acknowledgement Practice Plagiarism will not be tolerated |
Student Academic Grievance Policy http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/codesofprac/cop_supervision.html#8 |
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Special Consideration Policy http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/courserules/specialconsideration.html |
Code of Practice-Honours |
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Non-Discriminatory Language Practice and Presentation |
Intellectual Property Policy http://www.uow.edu.au/research/researchmanagement/1998IP.html |
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Occupational Health and Safety http://staff.uow.edu.au/ohs/commitment/OHS039-ohspolicy.pdf |
SISAT Internet Access & Student Resource Centre http://www.sitacs.uow.edu.au/info/current/internet_access_and_resource.shtml |
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SISAT Computer Usage Rules http://www.itacs.uow.edu.au/info/current/support/labs/rules.shtml |
SISAT Style Guide for Footnotes, Documentation, Essay and Report Writing |
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SISAT Student Guide |
Informatics Faculty Librarian, Ms Annette Meldrum, phone: 4221 4637,ameldrum@uow.edu.au |
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SISAT Subject Outlines |
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